Pinprick itch on 3 day old tattoo

[Sunsierra]

I have a 2 day old full color tattoo that is extremely itchy. It feels like a pin prick at first, followed by an very intense, short itch. Maybe 5-10 "pricks" a minute, on different spots over the entire tattoo. There is absolutely no redness, swelling or pain, and appears normal in every other way. It's driving me absolutely crazy, it's been happening about 7 hours now. 

I have lots of large full color tattoos, so I know that this is not normal for my healing. I use A&D for two days and switch to Lubriderm lotion, I have used both today. There are two new components that could potentially be the culprit: 

I did find out in the last 6 months I could be allergic to red ink, (ongoing issues with a redwing blackbird tattoo) and my new tattoo has orange which is a first for me. However, it's the entire tattoo experienceing this, not just the orange. It has brown, purple, green, orange, black, and blue. 

Second, my artist used Saniderm on this tattoo for the first time. I left it on 24 hrs. I sometimes have reactions to adhesive in bandaids, but with different symptoms than this.  Saniderm has been off for 30 hours, it did not start this itching till 24 hrs after it had been off. 

I have taken 75 mg of Benadryl to no affect. Has anyone experienced this?  Please help before I go crazy!

 

[VenomX]

When mine itch I put cold water gently over it then apply my lotion

[Sunsierra]

4 minutes ago, VenomX said:

When mine itch I put cold water gently over it then apply my lotion

This is not a normal healing itch. Re washing and moisturizing does not help. 

[Gingerninja]

Have you contacted your artist and/or talked to your doctor?

[Princess Sparkle Mittens]

1 hour ago, Gingerninja said:

Have you contacted your artist and/or talked to your doctor?

This. I would call or email your artist ASAP and then schedule a doctor's appointment, because what you're describing sounds unusual and really really unpleasant. 

[Sunsierra]

Update: The weird pinpricking lasted about two days and went away on its own. Tattoo is on track and healing normally. My doc said it was likely some sort of auto-immune response, as I don't seem to be allergic. Not sure if it will happen on future tattoos, since it had never happened to me before.